Sister Act is a musical comedy based on the film of the same name with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Glenn Slater.
Set in 1970's Philadelphia, the play follows Deloris Van Cartier, a singer with dreams of superstardom. However, she's trapped under the controlling thumb of Curtis Jackson, her gangster boyfriend. After witnessing Curtis murder an underling, Deloris runs to the police, where she's convinced to testify against him. However, until the trial can begin, Deloris must be protected from Curtis so she's cloistered away in a convent of reclusive nuns so she'll be out of sight.
At the convent, Deloris' vivacious personality clashes with that of the cautious Mother Superior, leading to comedic conflict as the convent slowly opens up to the public after years of seclusion.
This musical adaptation provides examples of:
- Abridged for Children: A one-act adaptation of the musical titled Sister Act Jr. can be performed by schools. This version removes all references to guns (Ernie dies offstage in an ambiguous way, implied to have been thrown out a window), most death references except for Ernie's death, all uses of inappropriate language and Deloris's various blasphemous uses of God and Jesus's names in vain, and much of Curtis's threatening behavior in general. Some songs including "When I Find My Baby" are cut entirely, but Curtis now sings in "Lady in the Long Black Dress" instead of exiting the stage just before the song.
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
- Deloris is depicted as a lonely soul looking for something resembling a family.
- Mother Superior experiences a crisis in faith and plaintively sings out to God for guidance in her featured solos.
- Sister Mary Robert angsts over the fact that she's always been a good girl and never rebelled against anything. Her character arc involves standing up in defiance to Mother Superior.
- Eddie Souther faces ridicule at work for his nervousness on the job and he pines after Deloris.
- Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: In the musical, Deloris and Eddie are former schoolmates, with Eddie nursing a lifelong crush on Deloris. In the film, they first meet after Deloris witnesses the plot-inducing murder and the two remain platonic.
- Adaptational Jerkass: In the film, the Reverend Mother only loses her temper after Deloris sneaks out of the convent and puts Mary Patrick and Mary Robert at risk. In the play, Mother Superior puts down Deloris from the moment they meet and even witholds food from her out of spite. Also, the film's Reverend Mother is quick to launch a rescue mission when she learns of Deloris' kidnapping while the play's Mother Superior tries to get everyone to forget about Deloris and has to be prodded into action by Mary Robert.
- Adaptation Expansion: In the film, Deloris' boyfriend Vinnie has two goons and the three only get a little screentime and no characterization beyond being Italian mobsters. In the play, Curtis has three goons, including a nephew, and they are featured in two Villain Songs to flesh out their characters.
- Adaptation Name Change:
- Rather than being addressed as "Reverend Mother" as in the film, the abbess is addressed as "Mother Superior" in the play.
- Some productions rename Monsignor O'Hara as Monsignor Howard.
- Crossing over with Race Lift, Deloris' boyfriend goes from being the Italian-American Vinnie LaRocca to the Black Curtis Jackson.
- In the original London production, Joey the gangster was renamed Bones — however, the current script reverts him back to his original name.
- Anachronism Stew: The play is explicitly set over the 1977-to-1978 holiday season. However it samples and references "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang, which came out in 1979, and briefly features hip-hop clothing styles that didn't come into vogue until the 1990's and early 2000's.
- Anti-Love Song: "When I Find My Baby" and "Lady in the Long Black Dress" both sound like love songs but "When I Find My Baby" is an "I Hate" Song about murder while "Lady in the Long Black Dress" is about stalking and kidnap.
- Ascended Extra: The Big Bad's henchmen are now a Comic Trio with more established personalities than their film counterparts. They even get their own song.
- Brick Joke: Deloris talks repeatedly of wanting a white-sequined dress and fur stole similar to the ones worn by Diana Ross. She finally gets to wear them in the curtain call and encore.
- Canon Foreigner: Unlike Vinnie, Curtis has an adult nephew named TJ, who joins his uncle's gang and helps track down Deloris.
- Creator Cameo: The show's musical director will step out of the orchestra pit to portray Pope Paul VI at the end.
- Equal-Opportunity Evil: Curtis is Black and employs TJ (Black), Joey (White), and Pablo/Dinero (Puerto Rican).
- "I Hate" Song: "When I Find My Baby", which is arranged like an R&B ballad but has lyrics describing how Curtis wants to kill Deloris to keep her from testifying against him.
- Intercourse with You: Deloris is introduced singing "Take Me to Heaven", which is about a woman asking her lover to pleasure her. When it gets reprised by the nuns, the context changes the sexual song into one of worship.
- Language Barrier: Pablo/Dinero only speaks in rapid-fire Spanish and other characters note that they can't understand him. In the climax, a Spanish-speaking nun provides helpful translation so the rest know how to react.
- Last-Second Word Swap: Deloris shows Sister Mary Robert her pair of FM boots, but catches herself before sharing what "FM" stands for ("F*** Me"). She settles for "Father Mulcahy" instead.
- Noodle Incident: Sister Mary Lazarus and Mother Superior both reference a folk mass that left the two at loggerheads but no details of the incident are provided.
- Patter Song: "Raise Your Voice" features Mary Lazarus chanting a portion of "Gloria in excelsis Deo" at high speed to provide a counter melody to the rest of the chorus.
- Quirky Miniboss Squad: Curtis Jackson's trio of henchmen: his nephew TJ, Joey (or Bones), and Pablo (or Dinero).
- Race Lift:
- The Big Bad Vinnie was white in the film, while his stage counterpart Curtis is typically played by a black actor. There are some productions that still portray him as white, however.
- While Eddie is usually a played by a black actor like in the film, certain productions (like the UK tour) have a white actor in the role.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: While Mother Superior complains about the changes Deloris' music is bringing, Monsignor O'Hara embraces the energizing effects and welcomes the new people coming into church (and the money they bring) with open arms.
- Setting Update: The film was set in 1990's Reno and San Francisco. The musical moves the setting to Philadelphia from Christmas, 1977, to New Year, 1978. Because of this, Pope Paul VI is featured rather than Pope John Paul II.
